Mary Newbury Adams

Mary Newbury Adams (October 17, 1837 – August 5, 1901) was an American women's suffragist and education advocate. She was a major social and political activist, and she helped found the Iowa Federation of Women's Clubs and the Northern Iowa Suffrage Association. Adams was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1981.

Early life Mary Newbury Adams was born in Peru, Indiana on October 17, 1837 to abolitionist missionaries Mary Ann Sergeant and Samuel Newbury. Her father was a Presbyterian minister and a supporter of co-education for men and women. Because her father held views of equal education for women and men, she received education beyond elementary school years.

Her parents were strong abolitionists, and their family was forced to move several times in search of a congregation with like-minded views. In her youth, Adams lived in Peru, Indiana, White Pigeon, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, and Jackson, Michigan. In Cleveland, Adams studied under the educator E.E. White. The family permanently settled in Dubuque, Iowa in 1853, though Adams was sent to the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York to complete her education.

Public life and career Adams was a passionate and lifelong learner, and she sought and created spaces of public discourse and education. Much of her work centered around the education and opportunities for women. She rejected the notion that women had to be defined by their roles of a daughter, sister, wife or a mother. She believed that women had played an essential role in the development of civilization and they were at par with men; she joined other feminists and suffragists to bring gender equality.

Conversational Club of Dubuque In 1868 she established the Conversational Club of Dubuque, a study club that supported mutual education of its members on a wide range of subjects. Meetings were held in the homes of its members, which allowed women with young children to attend.

Association for the Advancement of Women A number of similar clubs and organizations were being established across the country at this time, and in 1873, the Association for the Advancement of Women was founded by Maria Mitchell. These clubs were initiated with the purpose of coming together and educating one another on wide range of subjects but soon they turned to places where women were gaining the courage to speak before audiences and were getting confident to voice their opinions.

Adams, emboldened by her work organizing on a local level, became a vice president of the organization in 1875. In the following years, she became an active participant in the organization contributing papers to congresses and communicating with other local clubs that were being established.

Death Adams died of cancer in 1901 in Dubuque, Iowa. At her funeral, the minister took special notice of the Bible that was given to Adams by her father, and on the inside cover Adams had acknowledged the names of all the important women in both the Testaments.